Installing Windows Server 2012 with the Hyper-V Role on a Mac Mini (Quick and Dirty)

I recently got a lab setup for home to test configuration changes before deploying them on the production network and decided to take the opportunity to demo the new Windows Server 2012 as the backend to the whole thing. I opted for Mac Minis because of space and was planning on using ESXi. The reason I ended up going with Hyper-V is that supposedly 3.0 is bringing some really nice features, I have Technet and MSDN so I can play with all the new stuff too (including System Center VMM), and although I am certified in Hyper-V it has been a long time since I've used it.

Mac Mini Specs

The specs of my Mac Minis:

Intel Core i7-2635QM 2.0GHz 2x500GB Internal Hard Drives 16GB RAM (Not recommend or offered by Apple)

The installation was really quite simple and took less than an hour once I finally got the USB stick to boot in the Mac Mini. There are a ton of guides out there but I would highly recommend using a Windows workstation to do it. Another option may be to order the Mac Mini with a SuperDrive and forgo the extra internal storage space in favor of network disks (not in this install guide).

System Config Tool

After completing the basic installation of Server 2012 Core, the system will boot up and present a command prompt, nothing more. Welcome to Core Server. The first step will be to get the system online by opening the System Configuration Utilitiy.

sconfig

Then configure the basic settings like computer name, local admin account, enable remote management, and network settings.

Enter 2 to configure the computer name

Once you've set the name, exit back to the main menu.

Enter 3 to set the local administrator account

Enable remote management.

Enter 4 to enable/disable remote management

Configure the IP address and DNS servers.

Enter 8 to enter the network configuration menu

At this point you can also add the system to a domain if you have one (my domain didn't exist at this point since I had to build the DCs inside Hyper-V).

Option 1 to join domain or workgroup

Optionally, you can also configure the firewall here, I completely disabled mine since I'm not worried about securing my lab.

 netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off

If you've joined a domain or renamed the computer, it's best to restart now before installing the server roles.

 shutdown -r -t 0 {Reboot in 0 sec}

Now to install Hyper-V.

start /w ocsetup Microsoft-Hyper-V

If you'd like to also have the Server Management Interface on the local machine you can install that now also. You will need the management interface somewhere, I am writing up this guide as if you installed it locally.

start /w ocsetup Server-Gui-Shell

The system will prompt you to restart again, just click "Yes" and wait for the system to restart. If you've installed the server management interface locally, it will automatically start when the system boots. Now you can enable or disable RDP access by clicking through to "Local Server" and click the "Disabled" link to the right of "Remote Desktop." I had to do this since I would be running the system headless in my house. The next step would be to add the "File and Storage Services Role" so that you can provision storage pools. To do this click "Manage" at the top right of the Server Management interface and select "Add Roles and Features."

System Storage Pools

System Disks

Once that role is installed, you will have a link on the left of the Server Management interface for "File and Storage Services" that you should navigate to in order to provision your storage pool. On the lower right, under "Physical Disks," if you secondary hard drive is not listed, click "Tasks" and add the physical drive. The go back up to the top and click Tasks > New Storage Pool to add your physical disks to a new pool. Follow the guided configuration. Then you'll need to create a Virtual Disk. Navigate to Volumes > Disks and click Tasks > New Volume.

System Volumes

You will have to enter the additional "New Virtual Disk Wizard" to provision a virtual disk from the storage pool. Once completed, move up to the "Volumes" management area and select Tasks > New Volume to create a new volume on the virtual disk on the storage pool in the Mac Mini. Now you're ready to go. Install the Hyper-V management interface on another machine and you can start creating VMs.